1 Prologue

Blue flames erupted around him and spread like wildfire. Aurors screamed as the flames surrounded them. Some pulled out their wands to try and deflect it, others tried to disapparate, but it attacked them nonetheless.

Newt and Theseus worked together to fight off the flames as it circled them. Queenie had stepped through the fiery circle just a few minutes ago. Gellert Grindelwald accepted her with open arms as she stepped through and disapparated somewhere. Namora was truly scared for the first time in her life. She shook violently, not knowing what to do. Her eyes widened with fear as the blue fire climbed towards where she was hiding. She wanted to just stay and let it kill and disintegrate her, but her body moved instinctively.

She ran across the stones to another statue and shook her head, her hands clamped over her ears from the horrible screams. Squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to see or hear anymore, an odd sensation crept into her mind: Calmness. Namora opened her eyes and the fire rushed towards her. It roared at her and tossed her body down the steps. Newt glanced at her momentarily before flicking his wand through the air to defend himself against the flames. Theseus looked at her desperately, his eyes glazed over with tears. Namora wanted to say something but the gathering blood in the back of her throat prevented her from doing so.

She coughed out the blood with a mix of ash from the smoke and watched it splatter onto the stone steps that she was laying on. Her wand was lying lifelessly in her hand, snapped in two with wood flaking off of it, it seems it too, had given up. Namora felt broken inside, her parents were gone, her friends were gone, there was no place where she belonged, not even the ministry. A tear rolled down her flushed cheek and she wished she could turn time back. Back to where her parents were alive and smiling, back to when her friend trusted her, back when she thought that she'd finally found a place where she belonged. Back to her fourth year at Hogwarts...

A large shadow came towards her and it grew larger, into a man, with white hair, with one dark brown eye and another, marble white. Grindelwald. Namora looked into his eyes helplessly, ready for the end, her end. A tear rolled down her ash covered face, as she waited to be turned into nothing. What does it feel like to die? She wondered. He slowly pulled out his wand and came close to her. Namora seemed calm, awaiting for her death and could feel his breath against her cheek as he leaned in by her ear. "Forgive me," he said, his voice deep yet somehow soothing. "It is now my turn to help you... for the greater good".

Confused and terrified and utterly broken Namora felt him wrap his arms around her head and waist as she was lifted into the air. The fire rose high above his head and everything disappeared for the moment. It was just Grindelwald, Namora, and a wall of blue fire that lead to a circle of flames. She looked down solemnly at his wand and closed her eyes, thinking back to Hogwarts and the events that occurred her fourth year.

Looking over the flames she could make out the disappointed and scared faces of what was left of the aurors. Fear in the eyes of Newt and Theseus, disappointment in the eyes of Jacob, Queenie's fiancé. And sadness as their lives were rapidly falling apart before their eyes. Gellert looked down into her eyes, she could see the blue fire reflecting in his as he started to bend down. "For the greater good, "He said again as he placed her in the circle of burning fire where she disapparated.

She found herself in a room, there with wizards and witches. Namora lay on the floor and painfully rose to her feet. Scanning the crowd, she spotted Queenie crying and a small group of witches trying to comfort her. There was a crowd of wizards and witches crammed into one room and as the minutes passed, many apparated elsewhere after a small speech from Vinda Rosier about spreading the word.

Queenie wiped big globs of tears from her eyes as the small group disapparated each one of them apologizing. It made Queenie mad because they hadn't experienced what she had. The heartache and the pain. She was angry all of a sudden and longed for a true friend. Her eyes drifted over the remaining few and she smiled slightly seeing Namora.

She stumbled over by her, needing comfort and a friend. "Oh...dearie.." she said between sobs. "Jacob, he's..." Namora nodded solemnly. "l, I know." Soot fell off her face and clothes and created a small pile around her feet as they started to walk towards the sofa. She wavered a little on her feet, feeling light-headed. Queenie was at her side instantly, wiping tears from her red eyes . "Maybe...sniffle...you should rest dear...sniffle.. there might be some bedrooms...sniffle... down the hall.

Namora smiled gratefully, but something crept into her mind like a spider. It was familiar, the sensation of the thoughts, but it also made Namora terribly nauseous. "Yes, I should get rest I suppose," Namora said as she started to drift asleep on the sofa. She was so tired she didn't even hear what Queenie said before she dozed off...

QUEENIE

"He didn't come with me Namora, I just can't believe..." she said then heard a snore from Namora. Queenie read the woman's mind, she was in a deep sleep dreaming of her parents. Queenie shook her head, she shouldn't be reading her mind. Queenie stood and guided a patterned blanket over Namora with her wand. Poor dear, she was a sooty mess, her body covered with ash and various tips in her clothes and a deep scratch on her face.

Queenie ran her hands over her curled strawberry-blond hair, a nervous habit then walked down a hallway with a sparkling staircase leading up to another floor. She passed by Vinda who lifted her chin as she passed. Maybe it was a French thing, she didn't know. The French were so hard to understand. Queenie remembered when she met Vinda. She was trying to find Jacob and it started to rain and the thoughts of everyone around her flowed into her mind. Vinda had helped her. Then she met Grindelwald.

Queenie still wasn't sure, but she just kept re-thinking a sentence that Grindelwald had said over and over again. "I would never see you harmed...". Was that really true. She had stepped through the fire, he had welcomed her with open arms. Jacob though... she refused to think about him as she stepped into her room. It had lavish décor with a sofa, a large bed, and a wallpaper that seemed to glitter with curly cues and spirals.

Queenie changed into a nightgown and slipped under the cold covers. A large window let the moonlight shine in and Queenie snuggled the thin blankets around herself. Trying to get warm. She didn't like the feeling of being alone. Why couldn't she be like everyone else and have a family? She turned to her side and shut her eyes tight and drifted off into a troublesome sleep.

~

Thirty Minutes Before

GRINDELWALD

Grindelwald wiped his brow as the flame wall fell down into a sea of other flames. He saw that only a few aurors were left standing. He spotted two men fighting the flames and another man on his knees. He smiled at it though, everything was falling in his favor. He looked down and was forced to see his wand. He kept telling himself that using its power was for the better of wizard kind, that it was helping, but deep inside he just couldn't let it go.

He was, however, on his way to repaying an old debt. He had spared Namora's life, whether she was for the cause or against it. He owed her that much. Now it was just him, the blue fire, and the aurors. He had had enough of this. Like instructing an orchestra he directed the flames upwards and the fire raged toward the last of them. The night was still young and the stars were a fiery yellow and seemed to laugh at the remaining souls.

Grindelwald tightened his grip on his wand as he walked towards the few left standing. His eyes scanned over them, it was all very interesting. A woman appeared behind the two men and walked gracefully down the steps, her crimson-purple dress flowing elegantly behind her. The taller man with red hair and freckles gasped . Grindelwald smiled, Leta Lestrange... "I believe I know this one..."

"I love you," Leta said as she formed her last words to Theseus. She pulled out her wand toward Grindelwald. He deflected the spell and cringed in disappointment as the blue fire surged toward the woman and disintegrated her almost immediately. His eyes looked to the man, his eyes were full of tears and he seemed broken. Grindelwald stepped back, trying to look like he was not affected by the gruesome death and held his arms outwards as if to say enjoy the show and then he left without so much as a glance back. "I hate Paris," he said, then disapparated.

He apparated in a shadowed room. Hallways on either side of him had little lights on every few feet where a door would be, right be the hinges. In front of him stood steel railing with a wooden ridge casting over the top. What was most intriguing about the room was that half of the wall beyond the rails was not a wall at all, but multiple glass windows. These glass windows had been stuck together to create a viewing area and Grindelwald liked the idea of it. He could see little out of these windows besides a faint orange flicker. But it wasn't outside, it was behind him. Grindelwald turned and saw that a fireplace lay in the far back with a comforter facing it. Studying the fireplace, Grindelwald could see that the flames were dim and close to fading even though the logs had yet to be burned. The flame was small and weak, yet it still flickered and spat out what little it had. The fireplace shed little to no light because of this and instead seemed to be meaningless compared to the darkness of the night. He turned his back to the fire and looked once again out the windows.

Grindelwald felt something, something strange. Something he had not felt in a long time: remorse. Closing his eyes, he thought of what had just happened and the events that had occurred: dozens or aurors dead, Queenie joining the cause, and Leta Lestrange taking a stand against him. How meaningless her attempt was. The little act of hers did nothing, but ensure death upon her. Grindelwald thought of these things as he walked towards the steel railing that overlooked an area where pieces of furniture set along with steps up to a patio where an office-type environment had been created. He couldn't make out much in the dark, but he liked the area below the rails. It was quite interesting. He thought of Leta at this moment. She had been an auror, her family was powerful, and yet how dim her life had been.

Leta Lestrange was like the flame. She did not breathe much life, in fact she was trying to hang on to what she was desperately losing. She was lost. Grindelwald could have helped her. He could have restored her to a beautiful fire exploding with an intense power, but she had not chosen wisely. She was a fool and she let the water dowse her too quickly. And what was it for? Did she want her fiancé to see her dead, gone forever? Grindelwald chuckled to himself as the small feeling of remorse turned into a feeling of content and the thought of Leta Lestrange seemed to disappear into the back of his mind.

He leaned on the rails as he stared out these windows, imagining the mountains and their snowy peaks. Austria was most comforting. He enjoyed the snow. The coldness and the frostbite that seemed to always catch you, the blizzards and the howling winds, all of it gave Grindelwald a sense of calmness. Moonlight which had previously been covered by clouds suddenly shone through the windows and onto his face and he leaned more onto the rails, settling his elbows on them tiredly. CLINK. A sound behind him made him turn his face slightly. He didn't know who it was, but if they wanted to kill him, they would have tried already. Grindelwald let his palms rest on the railing, waiting for them to come to him.

Short steps followed him and a woman soon stood beside him. Vinda Rosier. "I see that you have spared an auror," she said, her piercing eyes staring into his as she lifted her head to gaze at the window. Grindelwald could tell that this act was bothering her, but he had to wonder why? Why would she care about one auror. He thought about avoiding her remark and letting her be met instead with silence. Vinda was, however, a trusted companion of his and Grindelwald answered her: "Yes, there was an old debt that I had to repay." "What shall we do with her?" Vinda said, nodding her head to where Namora lay asleep on the sofa. Grindelwald had failed to notice her body resting on the sofa and an idea started to form itself in his mind. One that might turn the tides.

Grindelwald spun his wand in his hand, carelessly, thinking of something. "I have a feeling that she will see the light of our cause," He said and glanced towards the sofa before facing Vinda again. Vinda's eyes narrowed in disagreement, but she nodded, spun on her heels, and walked away. He knew that she was in a state of disagreement, but he also knew that she trusted him and did whatever he asked of her. Grindelwald waited until the clip-clopping sound of her shoes faded down the stairs before he turned his head towards the sofa.

His hands glided around the edges of the sofa, caressing the cushions as he thought. Now was the time for his plan. He came around the front and kneeled beside her, resting his hands on her knees as he did so. Grindelwald studied her for a moment. In the moonlight, her black hair glowed, her face was grief stricken, and she clenched broken pieces of a wand. He shook his head and made a tsk noise. Perhaps he did not need Leta. Namora was as powerful as Leta in ways. She was a flame that needed the wind to grow into a fire. She needed him and he needed her mind, her memories. Specifically a memory from long ago. Slipping his wand out of his sleeve, he touched it to the side of her head. She twitched slightly as he pulled a silvery strand of her memory from her head. He felt no regret in this action. It was harmless and in fact, it would be for the better if she didn't remember at all. He reached into his vest and pulled out a small trinket and deposited the memory inside.

With that done, he stood. He felt that perhaps he should take her somewhere else instead of leaving her on the sofa so he took her to a room. She floated behind him, sleeping still, ash falling off of her and fluttering onto the maroon carpet that lined the hallway. Grindelwald walked past many closed doors that led to studies and libraries and came to a stop at one door which he knew to be a room. The door was large and the wood was tinted red. The wood carved lines down the door, making it look as if some kind of liquid was dripping down it in the dark. With a wave of his hand, the door swung open with a pitched squeal.

He guided her boy inside the room and towards a bed that set by the back wall. With a swish of his wand, the bed covers folded and came towards the rim of the bed. He looked at her floating, dangling body for a moment then held up his wand to remove the enchantment. The body dropped onto the bed, only inches away in the first place. A puff of ash went into the air and Grindelwald grimaced as the ash dusted him. He held up his wand again, the elder wand, and the ash started to dissipate with a simple spell: "Scourgify," he whispered and the ash dissipated and the smoky smell was cleared and the woman began to look more and more like her old self. A bruise was forming itself on her arms however and cuts still covered her face. "Episkey," Grindelwald said and pointed his wand at her. The cuts sewed themselves together and the bruise turned orange than pink and finally disappeared. With those gone, she looked almost content in a way. It reminded him of a long time ago and he felt the memory coming to him. He smiled at it and drew the covers over her body and left her...